Ethics in Business

"Business Ethics is the behavior that a business adheres to in its daily dealings with the world. The ethics of a particular business can be diverse. They apply not only to how the business interacts with the world at large, but also to their one-on-one dealings with a single customer. Many businesses have gained a bad reputation just by being in business." (Crystal, 2010). In this document we will review a few examples of business practices that have caused an organization to acquire a bad reputation as well as executives that have utilized unethical business practices. "To some people, businesses are interested in making money, and that is the bottom line. It could be called capitalism in its purest form. Making money is not wrong in itself. It is the manner in which some businesses conduct themselves that brings up the question of ethical behavior." (Crystal, 2010).

Business ethics involves proper code of conduct within organizations. Most organizations establish a set of principles in which employees, managers, and corporate executives should not deviate from. In essence, business ethics displays a sense of credibility to an organizations external environment. An example of the lack of ethics in corporate America is during the period of the financial crisis in the latter part of 2008: "The United States financial markets, and eventually all major world markets, were devastated by the aftermath of unethical lending practices by major lending institutions. These bad loans were made at the height of a real estate bubble in the United States. Aggressive lenders engaged in loans called "sub-prime mortgages." These mortgages were extremely high risk and most of them violated traditional underwriting standards for the industry. Prudence and ethics were pushed aside as greed overcame good judgment among mortgage lenders nationwide. The problem was exacerbated by the packaging, and leveraging, of these loans by Wall Street financial companies. These companies leveraged these bad loans, and sold them to unsuspecting buyers as bundled investments in the secondary markets." (Lewis, Kay, Kelso, & Larson, 2010). Business ethics contains good and bad practices and behaviors, the aforementioned example demonstrated the use of bad ethics. There are generally two forms of business ethics such as; descriptive and normative.

? Descriptive Ethics is the characterization or study of morality, an overall concept of what is good and acceptable vs. what is bad and morally unacceptable.

I find that it is totally unacceptable for executives to accept bribes to buy another's business products because it is a symbolism of the philosophy of "quid pro quo" (something given or taken in exchange of something else). (Answers Corporation, 2010). Quid pro quo methods have also been the source of previous accounts of sexual harassment claims, i.e. if you want a promotion you must firs perform a sexual favor. I personally feel as though quid pro quo tactics often generate bad business behaviors and practices. In retrospect, some politicians have been know for utilizing this methodology (quid pro quo) in order to obtain an adequate number of votes for upcoming elections. Below is an example taken from an article (in its entirety) by Democracy for Vancouver (2008) that will defend my position on why accepting bribes are unacceptable:

"Senator Don Benton claims that his campaign is funded by small business owners and individual citizens at a clip of 60% of his total haul. Aside from the other 40% of his funds coming from places like the National Rifle Association, payday lenders such as Money Tree, tobacco companies like R.J. Reynolds, and corporations like Wal-Mart, Benton's claims may be correct. One of those individual contributors is Washington philanthropist David Nierenberg.
Nierenberg is the founder of D3 Family Funds of Camas, WA. A longtime contributor to Democrats statewide, Nierenberg invited the senator to invest in D3, which he did, to the tune of $75,000. Benton saw a return on his investment of at least $2,900. Why is this troubling? David Nierenberg, filing as an individual citizen (and CEO of D3) contributed $2,900 to Don Benton this election cycle. Nierenberg has stated in the past that he supports candidates not by party, but those who exhibit "independent thinking." David Nierenberg is certainly an independent citizen, but is Don Benton the type of independent thinker Nierenberg thinks he is? While there is no specific indication that contributors like Mr. Nierenberg are purchasing access through campaign donations, relationships like this one deserve scrutiny, especially considering similar recent scandals with the Alaska state legislature. The meaning of independence, both by those contributing and the legislators whose campaigns they fund, is what's at stake here." (Democracy for Vancouver, 2008).

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"Business Ethics is the behavior that a business adheres to in its daily dealings with the world. The ethics of a particular business can be diverse. They apply not only to how the business interacts with the world at large, but also to their one-on-one dealings with a single customer. Many businesses have gained a bad reputation just by being in business." (Crystal, 2010). In this document we will review a few examples of business practices that have caused an organization to acquire a bad reputation as well as executives that have utilized unethical business practices. "To some people, businesses are interested in making money, and that is the bottom line. It could be called capitalism in its purest form. Making money is not wrong in itself. It is the manner in which some businesses conduct themselves that brings up the question of ethical behavior." (Crystal, 2010).

Business ethics involves proper code of conduct within organizations. Most organizations establish a set of principles in which employees, managers, and corporate executives should not deviate from. In essence, business ethics displays a sense of credibility to an organizations external environment. An example of the lack of ethics in corporate America is during the period of the financial crisis in the latter part of 2008: "The United States financial markets, and eventually all major world markets, were devastated by the aftermath of unethical lending practices by major lending institutions. These bad loans were made at the height of a real estate bubble in the United States. Aggressive lenders engaged in loans called "sub-prime mortgages." These mortgages were extremely high risk and most of them violated traditional underwriting standards for the industry. Prudence and ethics were pushed aside as greed overcame good judgment among mortgage lenders nationwide. The problem was exacerbated by the packaging, and leveraging, of these loans by Wall Street financial companies. These companies leveraged these bad loans, and sold them to unsuspecting buyers as bundled investments in the secondary markets." (Lewis, Kay, Kelso, & Larson, 2010). Business ethics contains good and bad practices and behaviors, the aforementioned example demonstrated the use of bad ethics. There are generally two forms of business ethics such as; descriptive and normative.

? Descriptive Ethics is the characterization or study of morality, an overall concept of what is good and ...

Solution Summary

"Business Ethics is the behavior that a business adheres to in its daily dealings with the world. The ethics of a particular business can be diverse. They apply not only to how the business interacts with the world at large, but also to their one-on-one dealings with a single customer. Many businesses have gained a bad reputation just by being in business." (Crystal, 2010). In this document we will review a few examples of business practices that have caused an organization to acquire a bad reputation as well as executives that have utilized unethical business practices. "To some people, businesses are interested in making money, and that is the bottom line. It could be called capitalism in its purest form. Making money is not wrong in itself. It is the manner in which some businesses conduct themselves that brings up the question of ethical behavior." (Crystal, 2010).

Business ethics involves proper code of conduct within organizations. Most organizations establish a set of principles in which employees, managers, and corporate executives should not deviate from. In essence, business ethics displays a sense of credibility to an organizations external environment. An example of the lack of ethics in corporate America is during the period of the financial crisis in the latter part of 2008: "The United States financial markets, and eventually all major world markets, were devastated by the aftermath of unethical lending practices by major lending institutions. These bad loans were made at the height of a real estate bubble in the United States. Aggressive lenders engaged in loans called "sub-prime mortgages." These mortgages were extremely high risk and most of them violated traditional underwriting standards for the industry. Prudence and ethics were pushed aside as greed overcame good judgment among mortgage lenders nationwide. The problem was exacerbated by the packaging, and leveraging, of these loans by Wall Street financial companies. These companies leveraged these bad loans, and sold them to unsuspecting buyers as bundled investments in the secondary markets." (Lewis, Kay, Kelso, & Larson, 2010). Business ethics contains good and bad practices and behaviors, the aforementioned example demonstrated the use of bad ethics. There are generally two forms of business ethics such as; descriptive and normative.